ShoeDazzle Could Face Layoffs

Layoffs could be coming to ShoeDazzle employees that were scooped up as part of its merger with JustFab this summer.

The e-commerce startup filed a notice with the State of California that it planned to eliminate 52 mostly customer service positions, roughly 10 percent of its overall staff, by the end of the year.

A JustFab spokeswoman said the El Segundo company is looking to reposition some of that staff. JustFab has already found new jobs within the company for five of those employees, she added.

"As we mentioned as part of the announcement when ShoeDazzle merged with JustFab, we would have department mergers due to our business similarities," Kimberly Tobman wrote in an email to the Business Journal. "In taking a careful look at our businesses, we determined that we had operational synergies within client services."

She also indicated that JustFab is looking to hire more than 75 new employees within the next year.

Onetime competitors, JustFab and ShoeDazzle announced their union in August. Though executives called the deal a merger, it has all the trappings of an acquisition.

ShoeDazzle employees have been moved from Santa Monica to JustFab's El Segundo headquarters and the firm will now operate as a separate brand under the JustFab name.

The combined firm, which has about 33 million members, is projected to generate $400 million in revenue next year and become profitable.